The Kid
by TurboLoverBOP
Summary: Helena's not a very good babysitter, we all know that. Exclusive story for FF dot net.


This is yet another story that came to mind very quickly. The ending is kind of the same old ending, however. But it was one of those stories that you sit down to write and you don't find yourself stopping until you type "the end." By the way, no copyright infringement is intended. I do not own the characters of Birds of Prey.

**THE KID**

The night was cold and snowy, definitely not a good time for it to be a slow night because my adrenaline level wasn't keeping me warm.

I jumped ontop a nearby roof top and trudged through the snow, grumbling as my boots and pants were soaked and freezing cold - not to mention stiff as a board because they were just about frozen solid.

As I walked, I heard something coming from the alley bellow so I turned back around and peered over the edge to see where it was coming from. I couldn't see anything or anyone but I could clearly hear sobbing. In an instant I jumped off the side of the building and landed down into the alley, hearing a gasp come from behind a dumpster a few hundred feet from me. I remained still for a moment, not wanting to scare them off. Then more sobbing and sniffling started up again.

Slowly and quietly I approached the dumpster, not sure on what I was going to find and whether it spelled trouble. But when I peeked around the side I saw a little girl, knees pulled up tightly against her chest, sobbing.

"Hey," I said softly.

She flinched and moved backwards against the wall.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help." I knelt down in front of her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

The girl shook her head, "No," she said in a tearful voice.

"What happened? What are you doing out here all by yourself? How old are you?"

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged her knees again. "I'm ten."

"Where's your mom or your dad?"

Her face contorted and she started sobbing again.

:: Huntress? What's going on::

"I found a little girl in an alley. I'm trying to find out what's going on. Stand by." I put my hand out towards the little girl. "Let's go get some hot chocolate and get you out of the cold. What do you say?"

The girl hesitated for a moment but then extended her hand and placed it into mine. "Okay," she said, her voice trembling.

I took her down the street to an all-night diner and got her a big mug of hot chocolate. I also managed to get her to take her soaked jacket off so she wouldn't catch pneumonia.

"What's your name?" I asked her, playing with a napkin on the table.

"Abby."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Abby. My name's Huntress."

"Huntress? What kind of name is that?" she asked as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"It's a...a nickname."

"What's your real name?"

I was suddenly struck with an internal dilemma. I never told anyone my name, especially people I'd just met. But this was a ten year old kid. A ten year old! Where was the harm in telling her? And why was I even debating about it? I guess it just spoke volumes about how my life works and how fucked up it can be at times. "Helena." There. I said it, there was no going back from it. "But you can call me Huntress, most people do."

"I like Helena better."

:: Huntress::

"Not now," I whispered.

"Who are you talking to?" Abby asked as she took the remaining sip of her beverage.

"I'll explain later, sweetheart. For now, I need you to tell me where your parents are so that I can bring you back to..."

She started crying again. "I can't."

"Can't go back? Why?"

"My...my mom is dead."

A vision of my mom flashed in my head as she said it. "I'm sorry. What about your dad?"

"I don't have a dad. Well, I do but he left when I was a baby."

Goddammit. Now I wanted to cry. This was too much like my own life and I wanted to reach out and hug the poor kid, but that part of me that keeps everyone at a distance kept me from doing so, so I moved forward with my interrogation, "How did you get here?"

She wiped away her tears with a napkin. "I was staying with my aunt but she's into drugs and is never home so I left. I've been on my own for a few days."

:: Huntress. Do not bring her to the Clocktower. You hear me::

"Oracle, she's a kid and she's scared. She has no place to go."

"Who are you talking to? Tell me. I can keep a secret."

I put up a finger, "Give me a second, kid. Stay here and I'll be right back." I walked outside in order to continue our conversation. "Oracle. You have experience with kids, I don't. I can't just leave her."

:: She's not your responsibility. I can call child services and they can place her...::

"No! You know what happens to kids in foster homes. They get bounced around and therefore can't count on anyone for stability. This little girl is just...she's just like me and.."

:: And that's why your judgment is extremely clouded right now. You don't know her. You don't know her background. ::

"She's a freakin' ten year old little girl. What harm could she do? She's...she's into Spongebob Squarepants for crying out loud!"

I could hear her sigh in frustration. :: Don't bring her here. ::

"Fine." I said as I switched my comm off and went back inside. "You ready to go?"

"Where are we going?"

"To my place. It's not Trump Tower but it's at least a warm place for you to sleep until we figure out what to do."

I took Abby to my apartment and got her set up on the couch. I clearly had no idea what I was doing but I knew that I had to help her. Her mom was dead and her dad was a deadbeat. How could I not help?

The next morning, I fixed her a bowl of cereal. "It's pretty slim pickins in terms of food around here. I'm usually never home."

She looked at me with a scared look. "So...I'd have to stay here alone?"

Shit. The kid had already been alone enough and here I was giving her the impression that being with me only meant it was going to continue. "I have an idea," I said as I looked at my watch. "Let's go someplace else for breakfast. What'daya say?"

"Okay!" she said with a smile.

We walked across town and she gasped at the size of the building as we stood outside and looked up. "It's big, huh?"

"Huge! Can we go to the top?"

"That's exactly where we're going."

She started jumping up and down with excitement and was the first to push the button to the top floor. "Before we go in, you have to promise me that you won't touch anything. Promise?"

"Promise."

The doors slid open and we stepped into the loft of the Clocktower. Here eyes became wide a saucers as she took in the sight before her. She was frozen in place as she looked all around. With Barbara at school, I figured I could bring her here without her knowing.

"Come on, we can get some breakfast in the kitchen."

She followed closely behind me as I lead her into the kitchen. "Is this place yours?"

"No. It's...um...it's my father's place."

"He must be rich. Can I meet him? Where is he?"

I put some Eggo waffles in the toaster and turned around to face her, crossing my arms over my chest. "He's kinda like your dad. He left when I was little."

"So why do you come here?"

"A friend of mine that I work with runs the place, I guess you could say."

"Cool. What do you do?"

Oh boy. How to answer this one. "We um...we work in human relations."

"What's that?"

"Long story." The waffles popped up and I put them on a plate, handing them to her.

"What about your mom?" she asked as she drenched the waffles in syrup.

"Oddly enough, like your mom...she's ah...she's dead."

"How did she die?"

"Let's um...let's just finish up breakfast and talk about this later, okay?" Even after all these years it's still painful for me to talk about my mother's death, no matter who my audience is. "You stay here and don't touch anything, I'll be right back."

I walked out of the room and went down the hall to the last room on my left. I paused for a moment and then went inside, switching on the light. Reaching up onto a shelf, I took down a small wooden box and sat down on the floor. I rifled through papers and documents and looked at photographs of my mom and me: at the zoo, in the park, at the beach. A single tear rolled down my face as I placed them over my heart. "I miss you, mom." Then I put them back into the box and returned the box to the shelf.

When I went back out to the kitchen, Abby wasn't there. "Abby?"

Suddenly she came running over to me. "Right here! Where were you?"

"Here's a better question, where were you? You weren't touching anything were you?"

"No. I promised, remember?"

"Okay, we need to go."

"I don't want to. I want to stay here and watch TV on the big screen in the other room."

"We can't. We're not even supposed to be here."

"Please!!"

I really had no place to bring her and it would be convenient to park her in front of the TV like other parents do. "Okay, fine. But just for a few hours and then we need to leave."

"Yay!!" she dashed into the other room and jumped onto the couch, content with zoning out in front of the boob tube for the next two hours.

Meanwhile, I logged onto the computer to check my e-mail.

"Helena?" Abby called out as she entered the room.

"What?"

"I can't get it to work."

I stood up and went into the room, fiddling with the buttons on the remote and on the TV. "Stupid thing," I cursed as I couldn't get it to work. Finally, a picture appeared. "What channel do you want it on?" I turned around and she wasn't there. "Abby?...Abby?"

She came bolting into the room. "Cartoon Network!"

"Fine." I turned it and handed her the remote. "Have fun," I said as I left the room and went back to the computer.

After a few hours passed, I got her ready to go and we went back to my apartment for more TV watching.

"I want Cartoon Network!"

"Sorry, kid. I don't have cable. You'll have to watch the news or the soaps."

"But it's all fuzzy."

"Yeah, I don't get good reception in this place."

"I want to go back to where we were!"

"We can't. I told you, we weren't even supposed to be there."

"I'm hungry."

"Hungry? You just had breakfast!"

Her mouth formed a frown and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I want McDonald's."

"No. That stuff is junk." Listen to me, I was sounding just like a mother. Scary.

"Maybe I should go then and just get it myself. I don't need you."

"Wait," I said, grabbing her arm. "I have an idea." I pulled out my cell and dialed Gibson. "Hey, it's me. Listen, can you do me a HUGE favor. I need you to baby-sit for me...my, um...friend's little girl...I soooo owe you! Thanks, Gibson."

"Where are we going?"

"Put your jacket on, you're gonna stay with my friend Gibson for a little while."

I brought Abby over to No Man's Land and figured she'd have a blast playing around there. It was a temporary solution but at least it was something for now.

"So who are you?" Gibson asked as he bent down and shook Abby's hand.

"I'm Abby."

"I'm Gibson, welcome to my humble establishment. Feel free to look around, just be careful."

"Thanks for doing this. Something came up so I needed someone to look after her. She doesn't like being alone so I didn't want to just leave her at my apartment."

"What time are you coming back?"

"Tomorrow morning. Please don't kill me!"

"Tomorrow MORNING?!?" he gasped.

"I have sweeps tonight and Barbara has already read me the riot act for even getting involved so..."

"Fine. But you owe me big time."

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I owe you MAJOR! Abby, I'll come by and get you in the morning, okay?"

"In the morning? Where are you going?"

"I have to work tonight."

"Oh. You're one of those."

My eyes shifted to Gibson and then back to her. "Huh?"

"It's okay. My aunt does that for drug money."

"Oh my God, no. No. No. No. I don't do THAT. I work um...security at night."

"Don't forget to get me," she said as she launched herself forward and hugged me.

"I...I won't," I answered, taken by surprise.

"Thanks again, Gibson."

"Come on, sweetheart. I'm going to show you how to shoot some pool." Gibson took her by the hand and off they went.

I left the store, chuckling to myself that Abby thought I was a hooker. But then I stopped because it actually wasn't funny.

As my night out on sweeps began, it didn't take long for Barbara's voice to come through on my comm. :: Huntress::

"I'm here."

:: Where is your little sidekick::

"Dinah? I don't know, haven't seen her since yesterday." I loved being a wise-ass.

:: You know I'm not referring to Dinah. ::

"She's with Gibson."

:: Oh boy, that oughta be...:: she stopped talking as an alarm started sounding.

"Oracle? Everything okay over there?"

:: Hold on, I need to switch over to my other computer. It's...what the...the keyboard is all sticky. Smells like...like maple syrup. ::

"Fuck," I said to myself, knowing where the maple syrup had come from. But then my heart started beating faster as I began to wonder why a ten year old would be trying to use someone else's computer.

:: This can't be... ::

"What is it?" I closed my eyes and turned in the direction I thought I need to start running in when she said the words.

:: S...someone accessed the database. ::

I ran like the wind. I ran as fast as my legs would take me. And when I reached No Man's Land I was amped on adrenaline and beyond pissed off.

I found Abby and Gibson playing cards in the corner of the room and immediately grabbed her by the wrist and began dragging her out. "Looks like I won't need you to baby-sit any longer, I'll take her from here."

"But...but...what's..." Gibson stammered.

"I'll explain later."

"Stop! You're hurting me!" Abby whined as I took her outside behind the building.

"Who are you?" I demanded as I stood in front of her with my hands clenched by my sides. I guess this is the part where parents find the urge to beat the shit out their kids when they do something really stupid because I'm feeling that urge to make her ass glow like the sun.

"Wh...what do you mean?" she asked as she started to cry.

"Stop the crying act. Who sent you?"

"I...I...I don't know what you're talking about. You're scaring me!"

:: Huntress? Talk to me. What the hell's going on::

I grabbed her arms and shook her slightly, "Why did you touch something I told you NOT to touch?"

"I didn't touch anything!"

"You went into that computer, don't lie to me!"

It sounded like Barbara was going to strangle me through my comm set:: Oh my God! I thought I told you... :: I didn't give her a chance to finish, I turned the comm off. I didn't need the distraction.

"You're hurting me!!!" she screamed.

I let go of her and turned around, running my fingers through my hair in frustration, anger, and everything in between. Then I turned back around and I noticed she'd stopped crying. She stood there almost stone-like - frozen - almost like she'd turned into somebody else. "Abby, why?" I stood inches away from her waiting for an honest answer.

She looked up at me with a cold, menacing look. "I can't tell you why." And then she smiled with a lopsided grin that sent shivers down my spine.

"Well, you're going to...UGH!!!" I looked down and saw her hand buried in my side. Her little punch didn't cause my grunt but the knife she was holding, the one that was now deep inside me was what forced it from me.

She slowly pulled back, pulling the bloody blade out as I sank to my knees. "Don't ask questions." Then she punched me in the face, sending me backwards.

I switched my comm back on. "Oracle, I...I need help," I gasped. I could hardly breathe, the pain was so bad. Plus I was holding my breath because when I did try and breath it sent a raging fireball of pain throughout my abdomen.

:: Huntress? Where are you::

"No Man's..." before I could get the rest of the words out Abby was on me, stabbing at me with the knife like a lunatic. She was small but she was strong, too strong for a ten year old, something felt wrong. I got the knife away from her and it skidded across the ground, but she continued to unload punch after punch and then she drove her tiny fist right into my wound. "Ughhhh!!" I screamed in agony.

"Oracle, are you listening?" Abby said as she pressed harder. "I'm going to kill your precious Huntress. What do you think about that?"

I could hear Barbara gasping each time I cried out and then nearly jump out of her skin when she heard her name. :: I'm on my way. Stay with me, Huntress::

I kicked the kid off of me and rolled onto my side, curling up into a ball as I hugged my wound. My blood stained the snow on the ground, making for a gruesome sight. I couldn't find it in myself to hit the kid because she was just a kid, even though she wanted me dead.

"Huntress!" Dinah yelled as she rounded the corner and found me on the ground.

Dinah put her hands over mine and I could feel the rage ignite in her when she looked over at Abby on the ground. "What's going on? Barbara didn't tell me anything other than to get over here right away." The kid started charging towards Dinah, the knife back in her possession, and the two of them went at it for a bit.

I staggered to my feet, grimacing and doubling over as my wound tore open wider. I had to help Dinah.

Abby managed to catch Dinah a few times with the knife, I could see the blood all over the ground. Then she smashed her head on the ground. I reached out and grabbed the kid by the back of her jacket, yanking her away from Dinah and tossing her to the ground. "You okay?" I asked Dinah as I knelt down beside her. She shook her head. Her eyes were half open and she looked dazed. That only fueled my fire. I snapped my head up and looked over to where the kid landed and I was immediately struck in the face by her foot. Pain erupted under my eye and I felt my skin split, burn and bleed.

"Oracle! Come out and play with me!" the kid yelled as she got behind me and put the tip of the knife to my chest. "I know she's listening," she whispered in my ear. "Think she'll hear the sound of me cutting through your flesh?"

"You little bitch," I reached up and grabbed her wrist but stopped when I felt the knife dig into my skin.

"Uh. Uh. Uh," she scolded me.

"Huntress!" Barbara yelled as she appeared on the scene, walking with the aid of her transponder.

I felt the knife dig in further, hitting one of my ribs as Abby realized that Oracle was standing in front of her. "Well, there you are. Took you long enough."

"Who are you working for?" Barbara asked as she slowly crept forward, her baton by her side.

The knife went in a little farther and I grunted as the pain intensified. "We'll get to that in due time, but in the meantime let's make a deal. You give me the list and I'll give you Huntress."

"You already have it. Let her go."

"I don't have it. I saw it but I didn't get a chance to download it. Huntress didn't leave me alone long enough." The knife went in a little more.

For some reason I decided to laugh, taunting her. But that just pissed her off and I felt her tense up. I felt the knife pull upwards and knew the next movement was going to be a vicious downward stab right through my ribs, probably piercing my lung and anything else under my ribcage...but in a flash Barbara tackled her and the impalement never came.

Barbara had her pinned on the ground as I gathered up all of the energy I had left to get to my feet. Dinah was unconscious, at least I hoped that's all she was, but my concern right now was Barbara. I didn't want her hurt for something I did and all of this was my fault.

I kicked the knife away from Abby's reach and helped Barbara bind her wrists and ankles so she couldn't move.

"You okay?" Barbara asked me as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"Not really," I said as I kept pressure on my wound with my hand. "Looks like you're not doing so well either." It was obvious that she was in pain because of the damn transponder and she was sweating profusely.

She waved me away, "I'm fine." She hauled Abby up and I could feel the anger radiating from her. "One last time, who do you work for?"

"That'd be me," we heard a female voice say from behind us.

Turning around, we saw Harley Quinn standing a few hundred feet away, a gun pointing in our direction. In a split second, a bullet came flying towards us. We both instinctively dove out of its path, but looking back it was clear that the bullet wasn't meant for us, it hit Abby right between the eyes. But there was no blood, just green slime and sparks coming out as if she'd been short-circuited. She wasn't even a real kid.

"What the.." I mumbled, horrified at what I was seeing.

"Oh well, it was a great idea at the time," Quinzel explained as she began walking towards us, the gun still aimed in our direction. "It was a perfect set up, you have to admit it Kyle. Me playing on your deep, dark emotions of mommy and daddy...boo hoo." In a quick movement she moved her foot out and pressed her boot to Barbara's neck, pinning her and coming close to crushing her windpipe. Her gun, however was aimed at me.

"Don't you dare," I warned her. "Let her go. This is between you and me." I could hear Barbara struggling and it was killing me. I made an effort to stand but I failed miserably.

Quinzel smiled evilly, licking her lips. Before I could do anything, she rolled Barbara over with her foot and shot Barbara in the back, hitting the transformer and causing an electric shock that made Barbara's body convulse for a few moments and then draining her consciousness.

In a rage, I threw myself at Quinzel, knocking her to the ground and pummeling her with my fists. She hit me back and I didn't care. I didn't let it phase me, I just continued to slam my fists into her skull. But it was the continuous grin that I wanted to wipe right off her face. "You fuckin' bitch," I roared at her before driving the final blow. Her eyes shut and I felt her body go limp. I wasn't satisfied but it would have to do for now.

Painfully, I moved over to Barbara, praying it wasn't as bad as what I'd witnessed. "Barbara? Barbara, can you hear me? Talk to me. Tell me you're okay," I said as tears started flowing. I checked her back and the bullet hadn't gone into her body, it just fried the shit out of her transponder. But she wasn't responding and it scared the hell out of me.

Turning to my right, Dinah was starting to come to. "Hel...Helena?"

I staggered over to her, ignoring my own wounds, "Shh, it's okay."

Dinah looked over and saw Barbara lying on the ground. "Oh my God, Barbara!" she screamed out.

"Can you help me get her in the car?"

"Wh-what's wrong with her?"

"Quinzel shot her transponder and I think..." I had to pause before saying it in order to gain my composure, "I think she was electrocuted."

"Oh God, no!" Dinah began to cry.

Given my injuries, I felt helpless. "She'll be okay." I didn't know that for sure but it was all I could say.

The two of us struggled to get her into the Hummer, but we managed to get it done. I slid behind the wheel and did my damnedest not to pass out on the ride to the Clocktower. Thankfully, I pulled it off.

When we got out of the elevator I started to freak out. "Alfred!" I screamed. There was no answer. "Alfred!"

"Here, let me get her into the lab. You're hurt a lot worse than I am." Dinah took Barbara and quickly got her into the lab while I struggled to make it there.

I can't tell you how many times I fell on the way there. And each time I just wanted to go to sleep. But I couldn't, Barbara needed me.

"Helena!" I heard Dinah call out. "She's awake!"

The words flowed through my brain and gave me a boost of energy to get me upright again. I staggered into the lab, leaving a bloody smear across the wall as I entered. "Barbara?" I gasped as I looked at her lying face down on the table.

"Helena?" she said weakly. "You...you're hurt."

I held back the tears. "What do I need to do for you? Alfred's not here." I felt panic replace adrenaline as it began to surge through my veins.

"Needle. Green liquid."

"Dinah, look in the cabinet for a syringe with green liquid."

"Found it!"

"Okay, now what?"

"Inject me in the back," she said softly.

Oh God. She wanted me of all people to inject her with it. "But..."

Dinah handed me the needle and Barbara reached out and took it from me. Without warning, she plunged the needle right into the base of her spine and injected the fluid into her body.

I couldn't help but gasp in horror. "Barbara?"

She let go of the needle, leaving it protruding out of her back and it looked like she passed out.

"Barbara?" Dinah called out to her, carefully pulling the needle out.

"Ugggghhhhh!" Barbara gasped, her body arching backwards in a violent motion before coming back down. She was breathing hard, as if she'd run a mile, but she was breathing.

"Barbara!" I went over to her, taking her face in my hands.

"Helena." She looked at me but then it was as if her brain began to register the sight before her. "Helena! You're...you're bleeding everywhere. Dinah! Dinah, get my chair."

I lowered myself to the ground, unable to stand up another minute. "No. You need to rest. I'll..."

"You'll what? Fix it yourself?" she said as she sat up, as if nothing ever happened.

"Your chair is in the car," Dinah said as she looked Barbara over.

Barbara gasped, "Dinah!" Then she started to cry. "You're hurt too. Sit. I can't believe this is happening." Barbara was really starting to freak out, mumbling to herself like a madwoman.

"It's my fault," I slurred as I started to feel myself floating towards unconsciousness.

Dinah came over to my side. "Barbara, she's lost a ton of blood. She's bleeding really bad."

"I'm so cold." My eyelids were getting heavier by the minute. The next thing I knew, Dinah was getting me to my feet and helping me onto the table. The two of them gasping at the sight of the stab wound in my side.

I turned my head to the left and saw Barbara sitting on a stool as she assessed the damage. "It's deep. I need to get in there and see what damage has been done internally. There's another about three inches below her right breast." She poked at the wound with her gloved finger, "She's bleeding internally...shit." I hardly ever hear her curse so I knew it was bad.

"I...I'm sssorry," I mumbled as my hand touched Barbara's arm.

She half batted it away. "We'll discuss this later." She wouldn't look at me when she said it.

I started moving her hands away from the wound. "Leave me then. Just let me bleed to death. I deserve it," I said as I tried to sit up.

"Helena, don't!" they said in unison. Dinah pressed her hands on my shoulders trying to get me to lie back down.

"I...I almost...almost got us killed." I grimaced as the pain suddenly intensified, sending me back down and curling into a ball. Then it felt like my heart was going to explode inside my chest. I whimpered a few times and then felt as if my breath had left me...

Right now I'm all alone in one of the spare bedrooms. I try to sit up but don't get very far as pain erupts in my side and I realize I'm hooked up to all sorts of wires and tubes, namely a chest tube. "You've got to be shitting me," I mumble to myself, annoyed that I've got something shoved inside me that can't be easily yanked out like an I.V.

I sigh slightly and begin to take stock of my injuries. It feels like my whole torso is wrapped in bandages. Barbara was always one to go a little too far with the medical care. Personally I'd beg to differ as to the need of the miles of gauze, but then again one thing I do remember is the amount of blood coming out of me. I don't think I've ever lost that much blood before.

An hour or so passed and I was still alone. It felt weird. Usually Barbara was right by my side when I woke up - constantly poking at me and checking my vital signs.

Nothing.

Then I thought about Dinah. She was hurt too. Maybe something happened. Or maybe Barbara had a relapse.

Grunting, I got myself into a sitting position, leaning against the pillows for a moment as I tried to control the pain. Then I ripped the I.V. out and all of the wires hooked up to the monitors sitting beside the bed. The steady beep of my heart beat became a constant one as it was no longer detecting my heart's rhythm. It was quite annoying but the damn off button was too far out of my reach for me to do anything about it.

Peeling back the covers, I lifted up my shirt to get a good look at the chest tube. I picked off the bandaging around it and sighed as I saw that it was stitched to my skin. One good tug of the tube would surely pop the stitches and pull the damn thing out, but I couldn't help but be filled with hesitation. I had no idea how long the thing was or where it was located in my body, not to mention the fact that I really didn't want to yank it out since the tube was far from being small.

"What do you think you're doing?" Barbara asked angrily as she wheeled into the room, catching me with my hands wrapped around the tubing.

"Trying to figure out how to get this thing out. Where's Dinah? Is she okay?"

She wheeled beside the bed and moved my hands away, inspecting it for any damage I might have caused. "She's fine. Three stab wounds but they were shallow. She has a concussion though so I've been keeping a close eye on her." She pulled my shirt back down. "I'll take it out in a minute." Moving over to the other side of the bed, she shut off the monitor and picked up the wires from where I'd tossed them. "I see you're back to your old self again."

"You know how I am with these things."

"Yeah," she said flatly as she began checking my vitals.

"I don't suppose this is a good time to talk about what happened last night."

"You mean two days ago," she said as she put my wrist back down on the bed.

"What? I've been out for two days?"

"Yes," she said as she put on a pair of rubber gloves and set some supplies down on the bed next to me, including a needle.

"Hey, wait a minute. What are you doing with that?"

"Numbing the area around the tube, you want it out or not?"

"Just take it out. No more needles."

"Fine."

"You never answered my question."

"Sit up and turn to your left a little." She cut the stitches around the tube. "I'm still trying to figure out what to say to you, Helena. Although I've had a few days to think about it and my opinion on certain things has changed but on others it hasn't. Take a deep breath and hold it until I say let go."

I sucked in a breath and she began to tug on the tube. "Shit that hurts," I gasped through my held breath. I could feel the tube sliding around in my chest, hitting God only knows what.

"You should have let me numb it. Almost there...hold it...hold it...okay, it's out." I let out my breath and my instinct was to put my hand over the sore area, but her hand caught mine before I could. "No. No. No. Don't touch. Sorry, this is gonna..."

"Sting!!! Holy shit!! What'd you put on there? Acid?"

"Alcohol. Just trying to make sure it doesn't get infected." She pulled the sponge away and began stitching up the hole.

"I think you did it to punish me."

"I think almost dying is punishment enough for you. More than half of your blood supply ended up on the floor and you went into cardiac arrest. You were dead for 50 seconds. Not long enough to do any brain damage but long enough to rip my heart out of my chest."

"Barbara, I'm sorry."

"I know. I think we've done this enough times before so I know how this goes. You apologize, I yell at you, you apologize again and say that you'll try not to do it again, and you're right back out there doing the same damn thing all over again. Am I right?"

"This was different."

"How do you figure, Helena?" The look on her face was a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"Normally I'm disobeying orders and going up against an army of men on my own and end up getting my ass handed to me. This time, I was played. My emotions were toyed with and I put my trust in a little girl who I thought was just like me. I got so caught up in trying to help her and maybe help her from making all of the wrong choices I made in life, but it just a giant lie."

"Then when I told you not to bring her to the Clocktower and you did anyway, why did you disobey those orders? Why do you not listen to me?"

"She was a ten year old kid. At the time I couldn't see how a little girl could be a threat. I admit it, I bought into it and bought into it big time. There's a sucker born every minute and I fell for it."

Barbara lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm torn on this one, Helena. On one hand I can't understand why you continuously do whatever the hell you want to do like some bratty child, then on the other hand I can see how you could let your emotions get the best of you. Unfortunately, emotions are what get you killed in this line of work. Whether it be love, anger, fear...you have to learn to keep your emotions in check. And another unfortunate side to this business is you cannot trust anyone, not even a ten year old girl. Even if she had been a real girl telling a real story, who knows who she knows and who she might tell about you - even if it came up in an innocent conversation. You just can't take that chance."

"You're right."

"Yes. I am right. You died that night and could still be dead because of this mistake. Not to mention the fact that you put all of our lives in danger, including all of the Metas in New Gotham. Luckily, I have a topnotch security system built into that computer or else she would have downloaded that list in seconds. God only knows what Quinzel planned on doing with it."

"Where is Quinzel?"

"Reese picked her up. I told him what happened and they're holding her for psychiatric evaluation. Given she was roaming around with a robot posing as a child could buy her a whole lot of time in Arkham Asylum. He's going to try and be as creative as possible to make sure she's not released."

"Well, if it happens I'm ready for her."

"Easy there. You still have a lot of rest ahead of you before you think about doing anything. Honestly, I'm getting tired of cleaning up your blood from the lab floor. You brought my fear to the edge. Don't you do that to me again."

"You should talk. How's your back? What was that stuff you made us give you?"

"It's a drug I designed when I made the transponder. I know the thing is shotty and that it may fry my nerves even worse. You got me back here just in time. Another ten minutes and right now I'd be paralyzed from the neck down."

I swallowed hard. "Barbara, I..."

She held up a hand. "I'll call us even on this one because I also took a risk in wearing the transponder and put myself in danger as well as you and Dinah. Me getting hurt became a distraction for you both and it was just another factor that could have gotten us all killed."

"Perhaps we both need to learn from this." I eased myself into the pillow and tried to relax.

Barbara nodded. "I realize that we're not perfect and that even though I've been at this a long time I don't have all the answers. We're going to have dangerous situations again and you'll probably get hurt again. I guess I'm just angry because I don't want it to happen and it's completely out of my control."

I put my hand over hers. "I understand. I don't want to see you hurt either and I'm sorry that I continue to hurt you by not listening and having to fix my sorry ass all the time."

She smiled at me, making me feel a hell of a lot better. "Get some rest. I'll check on you later."

I smiled back and drifted off into thought as she left the room. Within no time, I was fast asleep.

Fin


End file.
